MECC Link - Simple Signposting to Better Health and Wellbeing

Hounslow

People with underlying health conditions need to take even more precautions to protect themselves from the coronavirus and stay at home for 12 weeks, this is known as being shielded.

If someone is in this category the NHS will have sent them a letter or a text message to give them information about accessing support. They need to register with them that they need this support and instructions on how to do this will be included in the letter.

As part of the shielding scheme, parcels of food and other essential items will be delivered directly to the persons doorstep from a national distribution centre.

If the person has not received a letter by Monday 30 March, they should speak to their GP or specialist. Only your GP or specialist medical team can add them to the Shielded Patients List.

Emphasise that quitting will the best thing they will ever do and the NHS Smokefree service can provide the friendly and helpful support they need to quit for good

One You Hounslow provides one to one stop smoking support through face to face drop-in clinics, GP practices, pharmacies and through telephone and Skype sessions. Clients are offered a range of clinically proven smoking cessation medications to choose from and advised which would be most suitable for them as individuals.

One You Hounslow is able to support young people between 13 and 17 to stop smoking. There are a number of medications which are suitable for young people to use and the service is able to provide these on a prescription basis as well as face to face support to help young people to stop smoking.

NATIONAL SUPPORT

Do you think you would benefit from some further support to reduce your drinking to 'lower risk' levels?

Speak to your GP, a loved one or call Drinkline 0300 1231110 (Mon-Fri 9am - 8pm, weekends 11am - 4pm). The Drinkline service provides free, confidential, accurate and consistent information and advice to callers who are concerned about their own or someone else`s drinking regardless of the caller`s age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity or spirituality.

Download the 'One You' drinks tracker makes it easy to keep an eye on the booze and take control with daily tips and feedback) available on itunes or google play

ARC Hounslow is a service provided in partnership by CNWL and Phoenix Futures as a free and confidential service for people who live in the London Borough of Hounslow.

The service helps people break a cycle of addiction to substances such as heroin, cocaine, and new psychoactive substance as well as long term alcohol addiction. Many people turn to drink or drugs as a way of dealing with negative feelings, such as depression, stress, trauma or anxiety.

HYPE (Hounslow Young People Engaged) is the new-look Young People’s Drug and Alcohol service for the London Borough of Hounslow. It was previously known as Visions. The service works with young people under the age of 18 whose lives are affected by drugs and alcohol, including young people who have been affected by the negative experience of parental substance misuse.

We understand if drugs and alcohol are impacting on your life. We can work with you to provide you with treatment options that suit you.

The following resources are available to support people who are experiencing mental health challenges, however if they are in crisis, or would prefer to access services locally they should be directed to local support services. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see listings of local support services in your borough.

Give reassurances that there are lots of sources of support

If you are worried that this person is in crisis, please see section for Suicide Prevention

For Men -CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer accredited, confidential and free support to men anywhere in the UK through a helpline and web and webchat service. They talk through any issue with you and offer support, advice and signposting.

Every Mind Matters

‘Every Mind Matters’ is the first national mental health campaign from Public Health England

It’s an NHS-approved digital hub full of expert advice and practical tips to achieve good mental health

It also has a free NHS-approved online tool - ‘Your Mind Plan’ to help us:

Support Services - Adults

Adults can self-refer to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. IAPT is a national NHS programme, which offers evidence based psychological therapies or interventions approved by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). IAPT is primarily for treating people with mild to moderate mental health issues such as anxiety disorders, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

IAPT treatments are delivered via a stepped care model where patients are initially offered low intensity therapies, such as computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) and guided self-help. If these treatments are unsuccessful, or not appropriate for individuals, higher intensity therapies are utilised and include one to one cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or interpersonal therapy (IPT). Please see local support and contact details for further information.

Support Services - Veterans

Veterans Combat Stress is the UK's leading mental health charity for veterans. They offer free, confidential 24-hour support to Service and ex-Service personnel who are experiencing mental health issues, including feeling suicidal.

Support Services - Perinatal

PANDAS Foundation

The PANDAS Foundation is here to help support and advise any parent who is experiencing a perinatal mental illness. We are also here to inform and guide family members, carers, friends and employers as to how they can support someone who is suffering.

Support Services - Carers

The Carers Trust

It is important that you take care of your own health, even if you are busy looking after someone else's health. Being healthy is not only important for you, but it also helps the person you care after too. The website contains some helpful guides on relationship management and information on self-care and respite care.

Support Services - Children and Young People

Children and Young People can contact the 'The Mix which is a leading support service that can help young people to take on any challenge they are facing - from mental health to money, from homelessness to finding a job, from break-ups to drugs.

For Parents

YoungMinds run a free, confidential parents helpline, which parents/careers can call if they are worried about how a child or young person is feeling or behaving. They also run a group called Parents Say, for parents whose children are accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Talk about the Five Ways to Wellbeing. The mental health equivalent to the dietary advice to have ‘5 a day’ fruit and vegetables for physical health.

1. Connect - With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community.

As being well connected is good for your mental wellbeing… Is there anything you could be doing more of?

Can you think of connections that you would like to make or remake?

2. Be Active - Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity that you enjoy; one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

What activities do you engage in on a regular basis? How would I like to develop this?

Are there any minor adjustments you can make in your life that can help you to be more active?

3. Take Notice - Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are on a train, eating lunch or talking to friends.

How can you practice slowing down and pausing more often?

What difference will incorporating this into your daily life make?

4. Keep Learning - Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving.

What would you like to learn about? What interests you? What do you value? What would you find useful?

What do you need to do to make learning something you look forward to?

5. Give - Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in.

The West London Trust Single Point of Access (SPA) is a 24/7 helpline which provides telephone-based support and access to urgent care and treatment for people in mental health crisis. When someone feels unsafe, at risk or unable to cope without professional advice, trained mental health advisors and clinicians will work with people to enable them to manage their difficulties without having to access other services. The SPA also manages all adult mental health referrals, ensuring they are processed in a timely way through a robust clinical triaging process.

Visit the recipes page on 'Change for Life' has a extensive list of recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and lunchboxes!

One You Hounslow provides FREE 4 week Cook and Eat courses for those who want to learn how to prepare healthy nutritious meals in a fun environment. Also focusing on quick, healthy, cost saving meals and ways to reduce lifestyle diseases through healthy cooking. Cook and eat sessions are lead by nutritionist and dietitian.

One You Hounslow provides FREE Family Weight Management programmes to help families make small changes which can lead to healthier lifestyles involving free activities and group education on nutrition. The programmes are suitable for ages 5-19 and we also a run a Confident You Programme for teenagers.

Self Care

If you don't do anything, do something. if exercise didn’t involve a whole lot of self-motivation and actual physical activity, but instead came in a pill, it would be hailed immediately as “a wonder drug” such are the health benefits involved.

Public Health England's One You campaign supports adults by encouraging physical activity at a local level. A range of personalised tools are available via the How Are You online quiz, which has been completed by over 1 million people since it launched in March 2016.

The 'One You' Couch to 5k phone app has been designed to help get people off the couch and running in just 9 weeks.

The 'One You' Active 10 phone app show you how how much brisk walking you do and helps to show you how you can fit a ten minute brisk walk into your day. It breaks this brisk walking down into manageable chunks of ten minutes and encourages at least one session every day (which equates to 70 minutes a week). Users can set their own goals and the app encourages people to progress up to 30 brisk minutes of walking per day, to meet the 150 minutes recommended by the Chief Medical Officer

Why not join a Parkrun in your local area? Did you know that one of the best things about Parkrun and Junior Park run is that you can run, or jog or walk entirely at your own pace. This makes it accessible for those who never could envisage running 2k or 5k and creates an environment where people feel welcome. For those who don’t wish to run, jog or walk there is always the opportunity to volunteer to support your local Parkrun. There is probably a Parkrun local to you…visit http://www.parkrun.org.uk/ for more information.

One You Hounslow provides weekly health walks across the London Borough of Hounslow as well as a 24 week Exercise on Referral programme and information on a wide range of different physical activities running across Hounslow every week.